The present invention relates to a process for regenerating a resin and, more particularly, to a process for regenerating and recovering a resin by reprocessing a waste resin product.
Resins are indispensable materials in contemporary life, and various resin or plastic products such as molded products or foamed products of natural or synthetic resins are being manufactured. However, these resins are almost never decomposed by microorganisms. When such resins are burnt, they often generate toxic gases which may corrode the furnace. For this reason, the processing of waste resin products has become a serious problem. Some attempts at regenerating a resin from waste resin products have been proposed. For a polystyrene resin or the like, a method has been proposed wherein a waste polystyrene resin is burnt to be gasified and the gasified resin is separated to allow recovery of the resin. However, as may be apparent from this example, a process for reprocessing a waste resin and regenerating a resin therefrom requires a considerable investment in facilities and a high running cost. This process also results in a high energy consumption, and has therefore not been frequently adopted in practice.
If a process for reprocessing a waste resin to regenerate a resin at low cost and with ease can be proposed, such a process will contribute much to the quality of life, i.e., will provide a solution to the pollution of industrial waste and allow conservation of limited resources.